The Question - What is photography?

On a recent post to the New Orleans Photo Alliance concerning our current article in Louisiana Life Magazine "Parallel Worlds" by John Kemp, we found ourselves at the end of an angry rant about what photography is and is not. It reminded me of the arguments concerning many forms of new art work, including when the photograph came on the scene and was used for more than portraiture.   In this day and age of electronics, artists are changing the landscape and boundaries of creativity.  I personally am still fairly traditional in my mind about composing a work.  The difference is in the method I use to compose it.  My interest in photography has lead to a melding of both the pure photographic image and my own sensibilities about what I want to create.  Is this less of a photograph because I use my photography to build another parallel world?  I think not.